It’s the ninth day of the Ramadan Readathon blog tour and hidden behind the eighth door is…

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Review

“ Greatness takes time, Banu Nahida. Often the mightiest things have the humblest beginnings”

Basic Keywords and Intro:

Own Voices: Muslim debut Novel

New Adult Fantasy Novel

Dual Narrative: Nahri & Ali

Nahri lives in Cairo and remembers nothing about her past.

She is a 20 something street healer by day, and con person & thief by night.

Gets hired to host Zar parties, which is a spiritual method of cleansing, healing, and getting rid of evil spirits.

Doesn’t believe in Magic, but people believe in her powers, so hello money!

Summons Dara, the greatest djinn Daeva warrior with a tormented past, by mistake.

Dara protects Nahri from Ifrits and takes her to a hidden city.

Ali is the prince of a hidden city called Daevabad.

Has a spoiled Brother who is going to be the promised king.

Ali is selfless. But when what he believes in and what his family wants him to believe become opposing poles of beliefs and motives, he is left confused and conflicted.

Points to address:

Accurate representation of thoughts and mythical believes that Egyptian Citizens had believed in the past ( and might still have).

DARA! DARA! DARA! DARA!. LOVE HIM! LOVE HIM! LOVE HIM! LOVE HIM!

The author managed to capture the fact that sometimes 2 opposing political parties, aren’t actually different sides of the same coin. Nope, they are simply the same side of 2 different coins.

The History that Dara was familiar with wasn’t the same one that Ali learned about from historical books. Throughout the story, we get to see the sad truth that no-one wants to acknowledge in real life. Which is “ No two politically opposed Parties are 100% completely honest.

It is easier for us humans “ though the book is about djinns, but you know what I mean” to identify humans, believes, and events as black and white. I think the S.A, Chakraborty has managed to perfectly sum up how political parties run the system, so Kudos to her.

She shows us that life isn’t Black & White; it is Black & Blue.

“You won’t be able to continue like this, Alizayd,” he warned. “ To keep walking a path between loyalty to your family and loyalty to what you know is right. One of these days, you’re going to have to make a choice.”

Things I liked:

I really liked how the characters and politics were perfectly flawed.

There hasn’t been a single boring chapter in this book.

This story is soooooooooo good. No seriously, it is an amazing, kick-ass, awesome sauce, magnificent book.

Things I didn’t like:

The time I have to wait until the 2nd book, The Kingdom of Copper, is released.

How Under-Hyped this book is!!!!!

About the Author

S. A. Chakraborty is a speculative fiction writer from New York City. Her debut, THE CITY OF BRASS, is the first book in an epic fantasy trilogy set in the 18th century Middle East and will be published in November 2017 by Harper Voyager. When not buried in books about Mughal portraiture and Omani history, S. A. enjoys hiking, knitting, and cooking unnecessarily complicated meals for her family. You can find her online at www.sachakraborty.com or on Twitter (@SChakrabs) where she likes to ramble about history, politics, and Islamic art.

Children love receiving Fawanees during Ramadan, but that doesn’t mean that they are the only ones to enjoy them. Some Neighbors come together and participate in paying for a big Fanoos to hang at the entrance of the building.

2) Special drinks and desserts

Qamar Al Deen, aka, Apricot Juice

It is a thick, yummy drink that is made from dried apricot paste.

It could also be used to make a delicious pudding.

That is it for my #RamadanReadathon blog tour post. I hope you enjoyed it. Make sure to check out every post on this blog tour.

Did you read the City of Brass? Did you enjoy it? Have you ever had Qamar Al Deen? Would you be interested in a longer Egyptian Ramadan traditions blog post?